By Tyler Arnold
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 12, 2025 /
18:08 pm
A parental rights group has filed formal complaints against the YMCA with three federal agencies, requesting an investigation of the organization for allegedly violating the law by permitting biological males to use girls’ locker rooms, bathrooms, and overnight cabins.
The American Parents Coalition (APC), led by Alleigh Marré, sent letters on June 10 to the secretaries of the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She requested an investigation into possible Title IX violations on the part of the YMCA.
“The YMCA has betrayed the families it claims to serve,” Marré said in a statement. “Girls are expected to share teams, locker rooms, bathrooms, and overnight cabins with biological males, while parents are often kept in the dark.”
“As a federally funded institution receiving more than 600 million taxpayer dollars, the YMCA is legally obligated to protect girls, not sacrifice fairness, safety, and privacy to promote gender ideology,” she added.
The APC alleges that because the YMCA is a recipient of federal funds, it is required to adhere to Title IX rules, which ban sex-based discrimination. President Donald Trump issued executive orders clarifying that federal anti-discrimination rules are based on a person’s “sex” and not self-purported “gender identity,” instructing agencies to safeguard “intimate spaces” reserved for girls and women such as locker rooms and bathrooms.
The APC accuses the YMCA of maintaining “discriminatory policies” that go against Title IX rules and “imperil vulnerable children.” It alleges the YMCA embraces “radical gender ideology” through its policies.
“Under such an ideology, a man can walk into a YMCA locker room where young girls are changing because he feels like a woman,” the complaint alleges. “The YMCA policies prioritize the man but not the young girls in the locker room.”
The letter cites a since-deleted 2017 document on the American YMCA’s website about “how to create a safe space for LGBTQ+ campers.” One of the recommendations in the document was to “ensure all campers and staff have access to the facilities aligned with their gender identity and comfort within facility and resource limitations” as opposed to separating facilities on the basis of biological sex.
Marré told CNA that these recommendations are not “just theoretical” and cited examples in which YMCA facilities forced women and girls to “share that space with a man.”
In 2022, an 80-year-old woman was banned from a YMCA pool in Washington after expressing concerns about a biological male being present in a female locker room while young girls were changing. An article from the Daily Mail this week detailed an ongoing dispute at a YMCA gym in California in which several women have complained about a biological male who frequently uses the female locker room.
In April, police in Missouri launched an investigation into reports that a biological male exposed himself to children in a girls’ locker room at North Kansas City YMCA. North Kansas City YMCA told the local Fox affiliate that it was cooperating with the investigation but that “individuals are allowed to use the locker room or restroom that they identify with” according to state and local law.
Some YMCA summer camps include information on their websites that state that facilities are separated on the basis of self-asserted “gender identity” rather than biological sex. Camp Olson in Minnesota, for example, states that cabin assignments are based on “gender preference.”
YMCA disputes APC’s letter
The YMCA is disputing some of the APC letter’s characterizations of its policies.
A spokesperson for the YMCA dismissed the now-deleted 2017 document about separating facilities on the basis of gender identity as simply a “blog” that “had a number of ideas for camps that were interested in being more inclusive,” telling CNA this was never a mandatory policy.
“Y-USA does not have a nationwide policy around locker room and bathroom facilities,” according to an official statement from the YMCA provided to CNA.
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“State laws about transgender inclusion in gendered spaces remain an ever-evolving topic,” the statement added. “Considering this, Y-USA advocates for the personal safety and privacy of all members and participants.”
Marré told CNA that the YMCA’s response is “insufficient” and criticized the American YMCA for quietly removing the 2017 document and several other webpages that discuss gender ideology and homosexual pride without providing a public explanation or officially revising its policy.
“Until they explicitly say that their locker rooms, private spaces, and sports teams are [separated based on] biological sex, we have no reason to believe that’s actually the case,” Marré said.
Marré said the YMCA should “respect and follow Title IX as it is written,” but if the organization chooses not to, it should not “delete those policies” from its website but instead should “clearly communicate [it] to [its] members.”
APC is urging parents to question local YMCAs about their policies before allowing their children to participate in activities there. The organization has provided sample questions to help parents inquire about gender-related policies.
Tyler Arnold is a staff reporter for Catholic News Agency, based in EWTN News’ Washington Bureau. He previously worked at The Center Square and has been published in a variety of outlets, including The Associated Press, National Review, The American Conservative, and The Federalist.
